http://www.eastoregonian.info/main.asp? ... M=34714.74

National Guardsmen volunteer to help at border

By Allison Cox
of the East Oregonian

Sunday, October 22, 2006


The Oregon National Guard sent 35 volunteer soldiers and airmen to help U.S. Customs and Border Protection under Operation "Jump Start" in four southern border states recently.

Under Operation Jump Start, the federal government sought volunteers to help with surveillance, civil engineering projects, administrative support and training along the Mexican border. The deployment of Oregon Guard personnel took place under an agreement Gov. Ted Kulongoski concluded with the U.S. Department of Defense in July.

The first group of volunteers from Oregon deployed Oct. 1, with 35 more scheduled for deployment throughout the month.

A handful of airmen spent part of August and September in Arizona as part of an advance team to work out the details of the deployment. All the soldiers and airmen are volunteers deployed under Title 32 - a status called "Active Duty for Special Work." The deployment was federally funded.

Operation Jump Start allowed volunteers to seek extended employment opportunities in their individual military specialties.

Capt. Mike Braibish, spokesperson for the Oregon National Guard, said Operation Jump Start is an excellent opportunity for some of Oregon's unemployed and under-employed soldiers and airmen to lock into a month to 18-month period of employment.

"At the same time, they will improve their skills in their military specialties," Braibish said.

The number of deploying troops likely will fluctuate over time, but will remain manageable to allow the Oregon Guard to sustain readiness for state emergencies, Braibish said. The Oregon National Guard sought to enable soldiers and airmen who could benefit most from full-time deployment to volunteer for Operation Jump Start.

"What we're doing is providing support to customs and border protection, so they can put their enforcement officials out on the border itself," Braibish said.

"One of my friends is going there. She processes travel vouchers. We have people coming from medical backgrounds and engineers that will help with construction projects. We have folks going with communications expertise. We also have soldiers who will be watching banks of monitors focused on the border, but they will not be paroling the border."

Braibish said the Oregon National Guardsmen who volunteered will be under the command of the Arizona National Guard.

"We can still call them back here if there's an emergency," Braibish said. "If we need that support back here in the state, we can bring those troops home, and that's part of the agreement by which we deployed them."